The Secret of Cinder
by coruscamina
Summary: When a roamer shows up with oddly familiar goods, Lina and Doon suspect that something is amiss. They learn about a legend that tells of a perfect city like those of pre-Disaster times, and of the roamer's more mysterious intentions. It will take every ounce of perseverance and wit they have to chase down what may be the biggest secret the Builders kept from them.
1. A Perfect Gift

**A/N:** **Hello, people who still happen to read City of Ember fics! I recently reread the series while home for break and rekindled my love for it. I was inspired to write what's essentially a continuation of the series, a "fifth book" if you will, that imagines what could happen after The Diamond of Darkhold. I'm a little sad that City of Ember doesn't have much fan content, but hopefully my contribution means something! (Also it's been forever since I flexed my creative writing muscles, so bear with me!)**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the City of Ember series or Jeanne Duprau's intellectual property.**

* * *

When Lina hopped off Fleet's back and onto the ground, she stumbled ever so slightly. She had pushed Fleet to go a little longer than usual since the sun was setting and she knew she could make it before dark. Not that she needed the daylight, since Sparks was now filled with lights, but she didn't have a diamond on her, and she preferred not to be caught out in the Empty Lands without a light.

Lina led the visibly exhausted Fleet to the river that ran by Sparks, just beyond the town's edge. As her horse drank greedily, she decided now would be a good time as any to sort through her saddlebag. _I can probably make quick rounds with the mail before heading home_ , she thought. Lina unhooked the saddlebag, settled down on the riverbank, and proceeded to dump the bag's contents onto the rough grass.

Lina combed through the bundles of papers, picking out the one with all the letters labeled _SPARKS_. Once she set that aside, she proceeded to scan over the packages. She quickly noticed one unmarked package: a small, dark bundle tied with a string of yarn. Though she was puzzled for a second, she quickly remembered what the object was with a grin. Suddenly, Lina was filled with an eagerness to find its intended recipient. She finished sorting the packages and scrambled to get going, even startling Fleet with her briskness.

Once Lina arrived at the Pioneer Hotel, she brought Fleet to a halt. His stable was an old garden shed at the side of the building, which Lina had fitted with a water trough and an iron peg for the saddle. She quickly hung the saddle up and slipped the unmarked bundle into her pocket before leaving Fleet to graze. Lina then slipped into the Pioneer and started stomping up the steps two at a time. She hoped that her instinct was right.

Sure enough, Doon was at his usual spot in the attic, with several devices of varying sizes beside him. He appeared to be mulling over a space heater. Lina was curious to see what he had been up to since she was last in town, but she was more eager to show him what she found.

"Delivery for Doon Harrow!" she cried, thrusting the dark bundle out.

Startled, Doon nearly dropped the pliers he was holding. He looked up and raised his eyebrows at Lina. "Oh, you're back. What's that?"

"It's for you!" Lina said. She walked up to Doon and handed the bundle to him.

"For me?" Doon stared at it, a puzzled look on his face. "What is this? And who would be sending me..." He suddenly gave Lina a knowing look, and she giggled.

"Just open it," she urged. "I promise I'm not trying to trick you."

She watched as Doon unfurled the bundle gingerly, making sure to watch his expression shift from apprehension to incredulity. He had just unwrapped a beautiful pair of scissors that shone in the dim light. The scissors in Ember had always been dull, and it'd often take many snips to finally cut even a piece of paper. Sparks had the same problem, since the scissors that the roamers brought back were always just as worn down, if not worse due to rust. These scissors were clean and perfect, which Lina had never seen before in the short eighteen years of her life. Doon picked it up and turned it over carefully in his hand, as though he might break it. He kept staring at the scissors, until he finally looked up at Lina and asked, "Where did you find this?"

"A roamer was selling it in one of the other towns," Lina said proudly. "He wouldn't tell me where he got it, but gave it to me for a diamond. Isn't it lovely?"

"A diamond?" Doon echoed loudly. "That's ridiculous! Why didn't you just trade with some seeds?" Lina normally carried seeds with her to trade for supplies on her trips, since they were small and Clary—the Hotel Gardener—usually had plenty of them.

"I was already low on them by the time I came across that roamer," Lina admitted. "I got them in the last town I was in. But when I saw those scissors, I just knew I had to get them for you."

She thought she saw Doon frown for a moment, but then he shook his head and smiled up at her instead. "Thank you, Lina," he said.

She smiled back, glad that he was so happy with her gift. "By the way, what are you working on? Is that the heater from Dr. Hester's?"

"Yeah." Doon picked his pliers back up. "I've been trying to repair it for two days, but it seems like no matter what I do, it won't start again."

This wasn't a new occurrence. Doon had become something of Sparks' unofficial repairman. People often brought him things that needed repairing, and even got requests when he and Lina were visiting other settlements. She knew that Doon felt like he had a large responsibility on his shoulders, but at times like this there was nothing that Doon could do to fix them. "It's kind of like the Generator," Lina said quietly.

Doon nodded in agreement. "It's so old and it can only be patched up so much before it's dead for good."

"But I don't understand...these machines went unused for so long. They're not overused like the machines back in Ember were," Lina said. "Why are so many of them breaking down only after a couple of years?"

That exasperating question seemed to hang in the air as Doon sighed and rubbed his temple. "If only I knew," he muttered. "If only I could just replace these machines myself."

Electric machines were still considered a luxury in Sparks, but were slowly becoming more essential to everyday life. Once people were able to start using electricity, it was easier to survive the winter. Miniature refrigerators could help preserve food for much longer. Microwaves and electric kettles prevented the need to start a fire every time someone wanted to cook, saving firewood. Even electric saws made construction move almost twice as fast, allowing new houses to pop up quickly for those who still lived in the Pioneer Hotel. Lina knew that Doon was determined to lead the way for bringing electric machines back into everyone's lives, but that there was only so much he could do. She could practically see his frustration burning in his dark eyes.

* * *

After Lina delivered the mail, she returned to Dr. Hester's house to see Mrs. Murdo bent over a pile of carrots and muttering to herself. As soon as Lina closed the door though, Mrs. Murdo looked up and smiled warmly. "Welcome back, Lina!" she said.

"Hi, Mrs. Murdo," Lina said. She glanced around the room but didn't see anybody else. It was already sundown and dinner was supposed to be served soon. "Where is everyone?" she asked.

"Dr. Hester's out mending a broken leg, and Torren and Poppy were supposed to be back from the Dukes' with some potatoes a while ago..." Mrs. Murdo frowned. "Those kids never come back when they're supposed to."

As if on cue, the door swung open and in ran Poppy. "Lina, you're home!" she cried. Poppy ran up to Lina and hugged her tightly. Lina smiled and patted down her sister's unruly hair. She had clearly been running all day, since her hair seemed tangled beyond reason. Poppy reminded Lina of herself when she was a younger girl back in Ember, running the streets with dreams of becoming a Messenger.

"Hello? Someone help me out?" Torren grunted from the doorway as he lugged a large basket of potatoes. Lina rushed over and caught the other end of the basket before it could go lopsided. Once it was on the table, Torren groaned and stretched out his shoulder by swinging his arm in circles. "Jeez Poppy, you're no help, making me carry this by myself," he said.

"Liar, I was holding that thing with you all the way from the Dukes' house," Poppy retorted, sticking out her tongue. "You just couldn't tell because I'm too young to be much help."

"You two! Help me out with dinner if you don't want to go to bed hungry," Mrs. Murdo chided, looking pointedly at Torren and Poppy.

"But what about Lina?" Torren complained. "She's home now, can't she help instead?"

"She looks exhausted, you nut brain," Poppy said.

As the two continued to bicker, Lina smiled to herself and slipped away to go up to the loft, where she, Poppy, and Mrs. Murdo slept. She collapsed on the bed and savored the comfort after days of sleeping on earth. Poppy was getting far too big for the three of them to remain in the loft. Lina absently remembered that they were finally going to move into their new house soon, before she easily slipped into unconsciousness.


	2. Plans for the Future

The next morning, Doon headed down to the construction site. Although he spent his afternoons repairing electric machines, he still helped the laborers in the morning. Thanks to this, Doon had grown to be very broad and strong, hardened by the arduous work. He intended to keep working as a laborer even after Ember Square was fully complete, as Ember's former residents call it.

Ember Square consisted of dozens of houses that had been built in clusters around stone-laden courtyards. Most of them were inhabited now, with people finally sleeping in real beds and making their own homes. They looked lived in, with plants growing in backyards and freshly washed clothes hanging from clotheslines criss-crossed between the eaves. Doon made his way towards the back of the plaza, where the construction site was. The final courtyard was closest to the river that bordered Sparks. Knowing that one of those houses were soon to be his, Doon was pleased with setting.

Workers were already milling all around the courtyard, hauling leftover stones in wheelbarrows or packing away tools. The actual construction work had been completed, so all that was left to do was clean up. Doon stepped into one of the finished houses and took a moment to look around. Most of the houses in Ember Square were somewhat identical, so he already knew what they would look like on the inside quite well. Each one had a central space meant to be the living room, a corner with a stove for the kitchen, and one or two bedrooms. Yet Doon felt somewhat eager as he surveyed the cozy space. Soon, he would finally have a real home again. Though he was used to the Pioneer, he admitted that he was relieved to move out of it.

"Harrow!" Startled out of his thoughts, Doon turned to see his building leader, Chugger, glaring at him disapprovingly. Doon gave an apologetic nod before following him out of the house.

As Doon hefted up a stack of lumber, he heard someone else call his name. Tim—formerly known as Scawgo—waved at him from across the courtyard and started to limp over.

"Tim, what are you doing here?" Doon asked.

"I heard that you guys are just cleaning up now, and I figured that I can help in some way," Tim said with a shrug.

Doon frowned when he heard this. It was true that Tim was far more fit and healthy than he was when he was living with the Troggs, but his limp had never gone away. "Just be careful, okay?" Doon said.

Once Tim picked up an electric saw, he walked alongside Doon back towards the Pioneer. Doon made sure to shorten his pace. "Oh, I have wonderful news to tell you. Remember that I told you I had written to Vivi, the blacksmith in Aster?"

"Yeah," Doon said. He stepped a little to the side to make way for a pair of children who were running down the path.

"Well, she wrote back and said yes! She wants to make me her apprentice!" Tim said excitedly.

Doon offered a half-smile. "Congratulations, Tim!" he said. He knew that Tim had been looking for a job he could do, something other than cooking and housekeeping for the Noams. He had tried jobs like gardening and candle-making and quite liked them, but always yearned to do something more. Doon thought that blacksmithing suited him, especially since Aster was so far and Sparks could use a blacksmith.

"Yeah...there's one thing though," Tim said quietly. "This means I have to move to Aster. There's no way I can be Vivi's apprentice while living so far away."

Doon knew about this too. Aster was so far that people in Sparks would sometimes not receive their orders from Vivi for months, given the time it takes for her to hear a request and prepare it. Although he was happy for Tim, Doon couldn't help but feel sad thinking about him moving away. People hardly moved between settlements, and when they did, Doon didn't usually know them well enough to care.

"I've been pretty nervous about it, actually," Tim continued as they made their way into the Pioneer. One of the large rooms was reserved for construction supplies, where they unloaded their things. "I haven't told Lizzie yet because I know she won't be happy. We only just moved into our house a year ago now, so it's hard to figure out how to break the news."

As they walked back out of the Pioneer, Doon thought of Lina. "Why don't you ask Lina what you should do?" he suggested. "She would know what to do better than anyone."

"Oh, why didn't I think to do that?" Tim said with a grin. "Good idea, I'll find her later and ask what she thinks. I just hope that whatever happens, Lizzie will understand."

Doon thought vaguely about how some of his old schoolmates from back in Ember had also been moving in with each other, rather than remaining with their parents. Suddenly, he pictured Lina, laughing as she playfully throws soap bubbles at him. Lina dragging him away from his tools and urging him to go to bed. Lina hanging up a new drawing of her imaginary city on their wall...

He shook his head to disperse the thoughts, feeling hot with shame. He and his father had already planned to move in together. They only had each other as family, and Doon knew they must stay together. Despite himself, he couldn't help but feel a small twinge of disappointment.

* * *

Once he had his lunch, Doon made his way to the library to look up electric parts. Most of the time, he had the library all to himself. The only time other people really stopped by the library was to check out new shipments of books that Edward would get from time to time. However, when Doon spotted Kenny amid the bookshelves, he wasn't very surprised. Kenny would occasionally stop by to look up new bugs he had found, checking to see if he could add new information to his personal bug log. In fact, he was engrossed in a book at that moment. What _did_ surprise Doon was seeing Torren seated beside Kenny, just as absorbed in the same book.

"Oh, Doon!" Kenny had spotted him and waved for him to come over. "Check out this bug that Torren told me about!"

"I told you they were real," Torren said proudly, probably for the umpteenth time. "Caspar wouldn't make this kind of thing up."

Doon walked over to the pair and glanced down at the page. They were looking at a firefly, with its blunt black wings and glowing tail. He had read that book before and recognized the picture. He remembered checking to make sure the book wasn't a fairytale book, since the thought of a bug that could light up by itself seemed too incredible to be real. "It's pretty cool," Doon agreed. "I wouldn't have believed it if someone told me either."

"Apparently they're hard to find though," Torren said. "Even Casper said he's only ever seen them once."

"You can find them in warm places near water," Kenny added. "There aren't many places like that around the Empty Lands. Most of it's just grass anyway."

"Why don't we ever see them by the river then?" Doon asked.

Kenny squinted at the book. "It says you can find them near still water. So water that isn't moving, like a pond."

"When I become a roamer, maybe I'll come across some fireflies someday," Torren said.

"Speaking of which, I heard from someone that a roamer arrived earlier this morning," Kenny said. "He might start trading soon."

Although Doon had not yet fulfilled the purpose of his visit, he agreed to follow Kenny to see the roamer. Surprisingly, Torren declined in favor of continuing to read. Doon wondered with some amusement if Torren had just awoken a newfound fascination for bugs.


	3. The Enigmatic Roamer

Days when roamers came into town used to be some of the most exciting for Doon. Roamers meant old machines and devices, and that meant hours of tinkering to see how the diamonds could make them work. Perhaps Doon was no longer excited since roamers hardly brought machines anymore. He had seen from his trips with Lina that most of them were too big to lug around or too broken to repair. Even still, he figured that it wouldn't hurt to check if there might be anything useful. He and Kenny made their way into the crowd, craning their necks for a good look.

The roamer was a stout, bearded man who reminded Doon of a miner he had seen illustrated in a book before. He had a large ox hitched up to a battered truck, which looked somewhat less full than those of other roamers that usually pass through. Regardless, the man had a confident smile as he bellowed out. "I bring rare goods from the ancient world!" he said. "No rust or wear, all in perfect condition!"

The crowd surrounding the truck began to buzz as the roamer took out crates of goods. There was a pair of broomsticks without a straw out of place, pristine baskets made out of sturdy rope, and metal water bottles without a single dent. Doon saw an axe with a shining head free of rust sticking out of one crate. A pair of clean, scuff-free rubber boots sat in another. Then, he spotted something that looked oddly familiar...

"I'll only take diamonds in exchange for these rare treasures!" the roamer continued. "Step up with your offers!"

Doon only barely noticed how the buzz turned into hushed whispers as he pushed through the crowd and knelt down to examine one of the crates. Sure enough, he saw three identical pairs of scissors resting on top of a box of nails. He reflexively reached for his pocket, where Lina's gift to him was stored. Doon didn't want to take them out in case the roamer tried to accuse him, but he was certain that the roamer's scissors looked exactly like his own.

Once he stood back up, he noticed that no one was responding to the roamer's offers. Doon wasn't surprised, since diamonds had become a rarer commodity over time. Unfortunately, they were very fragile, and a few would break every year. Between breaking and trading them to even farther settlements, the diamonds were scarcer and used somewhat more conservatively in Sparks. Despite the allure of the roamer's goods, light was the one thing that allowed the people to lengthen their days.

"Hey Doon," Kenny whispered as he came up beside him. "Isn't that canned food, from Ember?"

He looked where Kenny pointed. Sure enough, several crates were stacked with unopened tin cans, as though they came fresh from the Ember supply depot. Doon's eyes widened as he realized that even the labels looked exactly like the ones in Ember. He thought they had cleared out every last bit of food from the city. Had this roamer discovered the abandoned city and found more supplies even the former people of Ember didn't know about?

The roamer became visibly frustrated as he waited. "I thought that this town is where the diamonds originally came from!" he said. "Do you not have diamonds to trade?"

A woman raised her arm. "I can give you ten candles for that knife," she said, gesturing to a small pile of kitchen knives.

The roamer frowned. "Ten candles isn't even close to the worth of one of these knives," he said briskly. "I made myself clear, I'll only accept diamonds for these goods."

Doon had heard enough for the time being. He knew he had to find Lina right away. In the back of his mind, he hoped that the worst of his formulating theories wouldn't turn out to be true.

* * *

Lina was on her way back from the clothier's when she ran into Doon. He seemed to appear out of nowhere, suddenly stepping in front of her. "Doon, you startled me!" she cried.

"Oh, sorry," he said. "Can you come with me right now? There's something I need to tell you about."

"Sure, just let me drop this off at the doctor's first," Lina said, gesturing at her bag.

Once they had stopped by Doctor Hester's house, Doon led Lina to the back terrace of the Pioneer. From there, they could see the courtyards of houses that had sprouted up in the past several years. Lina knew that Doon and his father didn't live in Ember Square yet, and had opted to wait for everyone else to move out of the Pioneer first. Both had insisting on holding off until everyone else had places to call home. After all, Lina, Poppy, and Mrs. Murdo had chosen to do the same.

"Construction is set to finish tonight, from what I heard," Doon said with a smile. "We'll finally have our own homes, Lina."

"Really? That's wonderful! How soon can we move in?" Lina asked.

"Tomorrow! All the furniture is built and set too."

Lina smiled, but quickly felt her expression fell as she remembered what Mrs. Murdo had said about a month ago. "I forgot, Mrs. Murdo isn't coming with me and Poppy," she said quietly. "She wants to stay with Doctor Hector, since she's Assistant Doctor. I don't...I guess I thought for sure that she'd come with us."

"Oh..." Doon paused before silently holding out his hand, his way of offering comfort. Lina took it and felt him give her a gentle squeeze. "That's too bad. She's like a mother to you."

"It's okay." Lina smiled sadly at him. "It's not like I won't ever see her again. But it'll be strange with just me and Poppy. Guess it'll just be us two again, against the world."

They sat there in silence for a long time, gazing out at the clusters of houses. Lina felt Doon mindlessly stroke his thumb on her hand and fought off an involuntary shiver. "What if," Doon said suddenly, "I moved in with you?"

"Huh?" Lina whipped her head over to look at him incredulously. Yet Doon had a solemn look in his eyes, and she knew that he was serious. "But what about your father?"

"Father wants to live on his own," Doon said. "He won't say it, but he keeps talking about how our house won't have nearly enough room for 'both of our trash.'" This was probably true, since Lina knew that Doon's father still collected random things, and Doon wanted to have someplace other than the Pioneer attic to work on his electric machines. She still felt hesitant for some reason, but then Doon gave her hand another squeeze. "Think about, okay? Maybe we can learn how to run a house together. Personally, I think it'd be much more fun than tripping over odd bolts and ends all the time."

Lina giggled. "Alright, I'll think about it."

"Anyway," Doon said, shaking his head, "that's not what I wanted to talk to you about. Did you hear about the roamer that came into town this morning?"

"I remember Dr. Hester mentioning something like that during breakfast," Lina said. "Why do you ask?"

"I think he might be the same one you ran into while you were away." Doon pulled out the scissors Lina had gifted him from his pocket. "He had two more just like this. He also has plenty of other things for sale that are in perfect condition."

Lina's eyes widened. "He had more things?" she said. "When I saw him, he had just finished trading and was packing up his stuff, so I only got to see one crate. I had no idea that _all_ of his things were brand-new!"

"There's more," Doon said. "He had canned food with him. Spinach, creamed corn, everything."

This made Lina gasp. "You don't think..."

Doon nodded. "The labels are exactly the same as the ones from the cans back in Ember," he said.

Lina felt her heart race a little faster. "How can that be? We were so careful when we made that last expedition."

"I don't know," Doon said. "The only explanation I could think of was that the Builders had another hidden vault full of supplies meant for _us._ " He kicked the ground in frustration. Doon's temper had improved over the years, but Lina knew that nothing made him angrier than injustice.

"Wait, but something doesn't add up," she said. "How and why would a roamer go back to Ember again after all these years? Not to mention, wouldn't we have seen him in Sparks before if he really got those things from Ember?"

Doon frowned and remained silent for a moment. "You're right, it doesn't make sense," he muttered. "I've never seen that man before in my life. He's kind of stout like a horse and has a dark beard. None of the regular roamers fit that description."

"That definitely sounds like the roamer I bought the scissors from," Lina said. "And he wouldn't tell me where he got it either when I asked."

"That's another thing, Lina; he's only accepting diamonds as payment," Doon growled. "The only reason he did sell you those scissors was because you happened to offer one. No one in the plaza would buy from him because no one has diamonds to spare anymore. That's why I needed to tell you." Doon crossed his arms and frowned. "There's something I don't like about this roamer. He's definitely hiding something big."

Lina practically jumped up from the wall they were sitting on. "We have to find him and get to the bottom of this!" she said. "At least, we have to see what we can learn about him."

"I knew you'd think so," Doon said with a nod. "Come on, let's go find him."


	4. Preparations

When Lina and Doon arrived at the plaza, they only saw the usual business of the townspeople. "I'm not surprised that he gave up already," Doon said, shaking his head. "He probably didn't stay here much longer after I left."

"Then he's probably at the Pioneer, right?" Lina said.

"We just came from there, wouldn't we have seen him?" Doon said.

"Well, I can't think of where else he'd be," Lina said. "All the roamers spend the night at the Pioneer, so if he's not in the plaza, he has to be there, right?"

Doon shrugged and nodded. "I guess we could go back and check."

"Did he have other things that could've come from Ember?" Lina asked as they walked.

"Bottled drinks, boxes of light bulbs, gardening tools—the works," Doon said. "I even saw Baby Drink." He was confident that the roamer had visited Ember recently. At the same time, Lina's argument against it lingered in the back of his mind like a bad taste in the mouth.

As the two approached the Pioneer Hotel, they looked around for the roamer's cart. "I don't see any oxen around here," Lina said. "Where could he have left his cart?"

"Are you talking about the roamer?" They turned to see Lizzie, one of Lina's friends, carrying a basket of cabbage on her hip.

"Oh, Lizzie!" Lina said. "Yeah, we're looking for him. Have you seen him?"

Lizzie raised an eyebrow. "You want to buy something off of him?" she said incredulously. "I hope you secretly have loads of diamonds then. What a cheapskate, that guy!"

"We know," Doon said quickly. "Where is he?"

"Oh, he just left a while ago," Lizzie said.

"He already left?" Lina cried. "I though roamers never leave the same day they arrive!"

Lizzie shrugged. "He said something about having better places to be," she said. "Good riddance, if you ask me. He seems really odd. Did you see that he had canned food with him? I wonder where he got it from. I would've bought some in a heartbeat if it wasn't for his ridiculous demands."

As Lizzie walked off, Lina and Doon stared at each other, both thinking the same thing; they must follow the roamer.

* * *

Doon set about to start packing practically as soon as he got up the next morning. He and Lina had agreed to meet by Fleet's stable after breakfast, which wasn't too far from now. He took out a knapsack from under his bed that he usually used on his trips with Lina. For some reason, Doon anticipated that this trip might take longer and that he should be prepared to be away from Sparks for quite a while. Even though they hadn't yet discussed how long they thought they'd be chasing the roamer, he was sure that Lina would think the same thing as him. They often ended up doing the same things anyway without ever having to say a word.

Though it was not yet the month of Chilling, the weather had already started to grow colder. Doon made sure to throw extra socks and a cardigan in his knapsack before pulling on his frayed brown coat. He checked again to make sure that his diamond was safely wrapped up in its sack, which would go in Fleet's saddlebag. Since Lina had given away hers, his diamond would be their only source of light on their journey. Doon had considered bringing his generator as well since it was less fragile, but he knew that the diamond was still more practical. He had been thinking for years about how to turn his simple generator into a waterwheel that could power the whole of Sparks, but had not gotten very far ever since the diamonds of Ember were discovered. Doon wondered bitterly if he should've worked on that plan more, seeing that diamonds were becoming scarcer by day.

Once Doon was sure he had everything he needed, he started to make his way downstairs. In the lobby, however, he saw his father. "Off on another trip?" his father asked in confusion.

"Yeah, Lina has to set out again soon and I wanted to go with her," Doon said.

"But son, did you forget that we're moving into our new house today?"

Doon paused for a moment. He _did_ forget, and he hadn't told his father about possibly moving in with Lina yet. In fact...

"Father, why don't you just move in by yourself first?" Doon said.

Doon's father furrowed his brow. "But what about you? Are you planning to move your things when you return?"

"Actually...I asked Lina if I could move in with her," Doon admitted, not looking his father in the eye. "Mrs. Murdo is staying in the doctor's house, so there's a spare room."

To his surprise, his father smiled. "I see..."

"But she didn't agree to it yet," Doon added quickly. "She'll probably say no, but she said she'd think about it. But you can move into the house first anyway."

"Alright," his father said. "It'd be kind of nice to have a house to myself."

"I know," Doon said. Although his father seemed pleased, Doon still worried about his injured hand. He wondered if this was all a mistake.

His father chuckled as though he read Doon's thoughts. "Don't worry about me," he said. "Just stay safe, son."

* * *

When Doon stopped by the Ark to pick up some food, he ran into Edward Pocket, the Librarian. "Doon! I was looking for you," he said.

"What's wrong?" Doon asked.

"I have something that I think you'd be very interested in," Edward said with a twinkle in his eye. "Lina delivered it to me just yesterday."

Doon followed Edward to the library, where he picked up a heavy looking book that Doon recognized as a college textbook. They were extremely rare books that were rich in information on a given subject. The library only had two other ones, although Doon didn't find either of them particularly useful. The textbook that Edward was holding, however, was titled _Fundamentals of Electrical Engineering._ Doon felt a rush of excitement as he took it. He didn't know what _engineering_ meant, but the word _electrical_ looked promising. "Where did you get this?" he said in awe.

"Someone was apparently using it to prop up their kitchen table," Edward said with a chuckle. "But now that we have it, you can study it and see what more you can learn about electricity."

Doon was eager to start combing through the book, but then stopped as he remembered Lina waiting for him. "Thank you, but I don't know if I can take it right now," he said.

"Why, how come?"

"Lina and I are about to head out," Doon said. "We're trying to track down the roamer that was here yesterday." Although they had been hiding the purpose of their trip from other people, Doon didn't feel the need to hide anything from Edward. He wasn't the type to talk about other people's business.

"That man _was_ a curiosity, wasn't he?" Edward said. "Actually, I just opened a letter from another town about that very man. He has quite the reputation, apparently."

"What town was that?"

"Reddington. It happens to be his hometown, three towns over from here."

 _Reddington._ Doon made a mental note to tell Lina later. "Do you know anything else about him?"

"I do," Edward said. "His name is Marshall, and he's not known to be a trustworthy man. People in Reddington say that he tends to believe in superstitions and nonsense. I don't know what kind of nonsense, but I don't think he sounds like a very good person."

"Neither do I," Doon said.

"Either way, take the book with you," Edward urged. "I think you should have it. You alone are most capable of understanding it anyway."

"Are you sure?" When Edward nodded, Doon said, "Thank you!" Now he had a real hope for inventing a larger source of power. He just hoped that he and Lina could confront the roamer quickly so he could get to work.


	5. Torren's Plan

"I ran into that roamer in Brookdale—" Lina pointed to her map of the Empty Lands, "—so he must be headed to Stonefield next." She recalled that both she and the roamer came to Sparks directly from Brookdale, and Stonefield was the next closest settlement.

Doon nodded in agreement. "Do you think we'll be able to catch up to him in time?" he asked.

"I think if we set out now, we should catch up to him in Stonefield," Lina said. She folded up her map and got up to put it into one of Fleet's saddlebags. The bags were already packed with the things they needed, like blankets, food, and their carefully wrapped diamonds. Doon had also asked to add a heavy book, which made for a slightly heavier load than usual. Lina hoped that Fleet wouldn't tire too quickly.

"Oh yeah, I got some information from Edward about the roamer," Doon said. "Apparently, his name is Marshall, and he comes from Reddington."

"Oh, Reddington," Lina said. "That's much farther than Stonefield. Hopefully we won't have to go all the way there."

"Actually, I was going to ask if we _could_ go there," Doon said. "I'm ready to travel for longer than we planned, and I think we could find more useful information there than trying to interrogate Marshall."

Lina grinned. "That makes two of us then," she said. "I was thinking we might need to prepare to tail him farther than Stonefield, but you might be right." She then heard someone urgently shouting her name from the distance, and turned to see Torren sprinting towards the stable.

"Lina! I heard you're heading out again and I was wondering if I could—" Torren then faltered as he spotted Doon sitting by Lina's feet. "What, you're taking him _again_?"

She smiled apologetically. "Sorry Torren," she said. "Maybe next time?"

"Oh come on, you always take Doon out, and it's always for pointless junk," Torren said indignantly.

Doon scowled. "What's so urgent that you need to go with Lina so badly, anyway?" he asked.

"I just turned sixteen last week! I'm finally old enough to become a roamer, so I've been wanting to go to the other towns and see if I can find a wagon to buy. But _someone_ —" Torren glared at Doon, "—has been keeping me from that lately."

"Look Torren, I already promised Doon that he'd be coming with me," Lina said firmly. "You can wait, it's not the end of the world if you don't come with me this time."

Torren grumbled, and Lina knew that he had given up. "No point trying anymore, you guys are stuck together liked an old married couple," he muttered as he walked away.

Although Lina had become very good at ignoring Torren's snide comments, she felt her face grow warm. Beside her, Doon let out a small cough. "So...ready to go?" he said.

Lina nodded and offered her hand to pull him up. "Yeah, let's go."

* * *

Torren tried not to slam the door as he entered the house, but still felt pent up frustration practically screaming to be let out. People had always condescendingly told him about how hard being a roamer was, but he didn't think that just trying to even _start_ would take so long. He sighed and rubbed his face. He felt a headache coming on and needed to lie down. However, when he got to the medicine room, he saw that Dr. Hester was busy tending someone.

"Hello Torren," Tim said with a wave.

"Oh, Torren! Good timing," Dr. Hester said. "Can you get me a pack of bandages from the far cabinet?

He did, and frowned when she didn't bother to say thank you. "What happened to you?" he asked, noticing the deep gash in Tim's forearm.

"I was just careless, that's all," Tim said as Dr. Hester wound the bandages around his arm. "I've been trying to help the construction workers clean up. They finally finished building Ember Plaza today."

That news perked Torren up just a little. Finished houses meant that he would finally have his loft again! "That's great!" he shouted.

Tim winced. "Gee, thanks," he said with a laugh.

"Oh, I didn't mean about your arm," Torren said. "I meant about Lina, Poppy, and Mrs. Murdo moving out."

"Actually, Mrs. Murdo decided that she is staying with us," Dr. Hester said. "There! How does that feel, Tim?"

"What?" Torren cried. "I still get my loft back though, right? You'll make her sleep in here from now on?"

"Hm, of course, dear. Nothing to fret over. Alright, you're all set. Make sure you come back in two days to change those bandages."

"By the way, Torren!" Tim called out. "I heard from Kanza that Trogg is finally putting his old truck and ox up for sale."

This information made Torren pause for a moment. A plan started to formulate in his head, one that turned his sour mood into excitement. Now he understood that cryptic phrase Doon once said that goes _when one door closes, another one opens._


	6. Hot and Cold

The next several days consisted of the same routine. Lina and Doon would ride for a few hours at a time, stopping only to eat, go to the bathroom, let Fleet drink from a stream, or to sleep. If daylight was still out while they were stopped, Doon would read his textbook and puzzle over its contents. He didn't know what many things written in it were, like cathode ray tubes or electromagnetism. Regardless, Doon was excited by everything he read, and the things he _did_ understand. For one, he finally understood why a magnet was necessary to power his generator.

On the third day of their journey, Lina said that they were nearly at Stonefield. By sunset, an outline of the settlement was visible on the horizon. Normally, it'd take them longer a little longer to reach a town, since Doon always wanted to explore the ancient ruins scattered around the Empty Lands whenever he tagged along. However, he and Lina bypassed them all and pressed on to Stonefield as fast as they could. They needed to make sure they caught the roamer in case he left Stonefield as quickly as he did Sparks.

They stopped for the night by a small grove of young trees. Although it provided meager coverage, it was also the only sheltered space for miles around them. Doon tore out pages from an old coloring book to start a fire as Lina unpacked some berries and crackers for supper.

"I can't seem to get anything going," Doon said impatiently after a while. He looked up at the sky, as though he'd be able to see the air rushing over them. "It's far too windy today for a fire."

Lina frowned as she sat herself down. "L-let's just hope that there aren't any wolves around tonight," she said breathlessly.

Doon felt sorry for her, since he knew that she had been cold all day. He had lent her his cardigan, but it wasn't enough to keep her from shivering in his arms as they rode through the plains. He sat down beside Lina and began to rub her upper arms in an attempt to help in some way. "Will you be alright?" he asked.

She nodded, despite her chattering teeth. "It's m-my fault for not being prepared," she said. "I didn't e-expect the weather to turn cold so q-quickly."

"It got cold earlier this year," Doon agreed. "Hurry, start eating so we can set out the blankets soon."

Once they had finished their food, Lina pulled out blankets from Fleet's saddlebags. Doon accepted his and went to settle down. Lina wrapped her blanket around herself and shivered a little as an especially strong gust of wind came in. "Are you sure you're going to be okay?" Doon asked. He was worried since this was the first night they couldn't go to sleep with a fire beside them.

"I'll b-be fine," Lina said. She laid down beside Doon and wrapped herself up as tightly as she could. She looked like a caterpillar, he thought with amusement.

Even still, Doon could see that Lina was shaking. He paused for a moment, before moving closer to her and gently laying his own blanket on top of hers. Lina looked up at him with wide eyes. "No, Doon," she whispered. "W-what about you?"

"I'll be fine," he said. "My jacket's enough to keep me warm."

Lina shook her head and lifted up the corner of the blankets, motioning for him to join her. Doon gave her a questioning look, and she nodded in affirmation. Though he was a little embarrassed, he knew that he was only getting colder himself. He slipped under the covers and let Lina press up against him, feeling her body quiver. "You're warm," she murmured.

"I know." Doon wrapped an arm around Lina and allowed her to rest her head on his shoulder. She curled her body up tighter against his side, seeking more of his body heat. As Lina's shivering finally began to subside, Doon thought about how he hadn't felt this comfortable in a long time. Despite the unforgivingly hard ground and the wind whistling mercilessly around them, he still managed to drift off into dreamless sleep.

* * *

When Doon awoke and opened his eyes, the first thing he noticed was the pale blue of early dawn. The second thing he noticed was the unfamiliar weight on his stomach. Looking down, Doon found its source to be Lina's arm, draped across his abdomen. Her head was nestled under his, so that her soft breathing tickled his neck. Doon suddenly felt hyperaware of each breath she took, yet he didn't want to move a muscle. She was so warm and he felt so cozy that he could've laid there forever.

Suddenly, Lina shifted and burrowed her face even closer to his neck. Doon jerked at the motion and felt his face thoroughly flush. The movement woke Lina, who slowly lifted her head to look up at him. Her eyes were still glazed with sleep, and she blinked.

"Oh!" She quickly sat up. An unpleasant rush of cold air hit Doon where Lina had been pressed against him just a moment ago. "The sun's already higher in the sky than I expected," she said. "We must've slept later than usual."

Doon looked up at her apologetically through his dark hair. "Sorry...I intended to keep watch last night, but I fell asleep. I just woke up too."

"It's okay," Lina said with a smile. "I think I was just really comfortable. Thank you for keeping me warm last night."

Speechless, all that Doon could do was nod in reply. Lina put on her boots and shivered as she stood up. "Let's have breakfast and get going as soon as we can," she said. "We should arrive at Stonefield by high noon."

"Sounds good," Doon agreed. They set about putting the blankets away and eating breakfast as fast as they could. They needed to make sure they find Marshall as soon as possible.

* * *

Doon didn't remember the last time he had been to Stonefield with Lina. The town was smaller than Sparks, but always seemed livelier. Doon had chalked it up to the chickens and sheep that ran free between the houses and the narrowness of the roads that made it seem more crowded. Lina left Fleet at the very edge of town so they could move through it quickly. However, they didn't see any sign of a roamer on the streets.

"Excuse me," Lina said to a passing woman with a water jug on her head. "Has a roamer come through here recently?"

"A roamer? Yes, he's at the old barn, where they usually stay." The woman pointed to a decrepit building with a curved roof across the town. "He stopped trading a while ago, so he's resting there now. I wouldn't buy from him though, if I were you. He's overcharging for everything he has."

Doon and Lina looked at each other. That had to be Marshall! "Thank you," Doon said.

They rushed across town, weaving through throngs of people and animals. When they arrived at the barn, they saw a short, bearded man sharpening his knife on the front step.

"Excuse me," Lina said. "Are you Marshall the roamer?"

The man looked up at them. "That's me. What do you want?"


	7. To Reddington

Lina slumped defeatedly on Fleet's flank as soon as she got to him. She sensed Doon right behind her, who sighed wearily. "I don't know what we expected," he said. "I guess we were being too optimistic."

"I didn't think that anybody could be as stubborn as Torren!" Lina said.

Their conversation with Marshall had barely lasted a minute. He shut down every question they had, every probe to get information out of him. If anything, they did learn that he was planning to move on immediately, and he began to pack up his things as soon as they left.

"So, what now? We head to Reddington?" Doon said.

Lina nodded as she took her satchel out of the saddlebag, which was filled with seeds for trading. "I guess so. We need to replenish our supplies though. Let's spend the night here before heading out in the morning. That jerk should be gone from the barn by nightfall anyway."

With that, they started to head back into town. Doon easily fell into step beside Lina. "So we still don't know why he's collecting all those diamonds, and what he plans to do with the ones he does have," he said. "But I'll bet that he's planning to hold out until the month of Chilling, when people need supplies the most. Roamers don't go around as much during the winter, so it'd be the perfect opportunity for him."

"He would wait until people _had_ to buy his things," Lina realized aloud. With a shudder, she recalled Looper from back in Ember all those years ago, selling those rare colored pencils at a premium that she couldn't resist. There were many cold-hearted people out in the world who were willing to take advantage of their blessings.

"If he keeps collecting diamonds, even if it happens slowly, soon we'll be going backwards," Doon said. "People will start dying again for things we solved a while ago, like keeping warm. We can't let that happen!"

"But Doon, what can we do to get those diamonds back? We don't know what Marshall's planning to do with them."

Doon remained silent as Lina picked up a dirty baseball that rolled up to her feet. She saw a couple of children waving at her and threw the ball to the closest boy, who called out his thanks.

"I...I don't know," Doon finally admitted. "I want to get them back, but it wouldn't be right to steal them, even if he's being unfair." He paused, and Lina saw a determined look in his eyes. "That's why I have to keep studying about electricity. We can't rely on those diamonds forever, not when it'll take so long to figure out how to reproduce them."

Lina was glad that Doon was so determined. That was one of the things she liked about him, and why she knew she could trust him more than anyone. Only Doon would be so resolved to learn everything he can about electricity. Only Doon would get upset enough about Marshall's shady ways to go out with her and investigate.

"I hope we can figure out where he's getting all those new things too," Lina said. "It bothers me how nothing about it makes sense."

Doon furrowed his dark brows. "I can't stop thinking about Ember," he said. "What if we really missed something? What if Marshall's just been taking things out from there this whole time?"

Lina didn't want to say it out loud, but she was sure that there was another explanation. At the same time, she couldn't disagree with Doon's suspicions either. "We just have to go to Reddington," she said. "If we find nothing useful there, then maybe we can go to Ember next."

"It's strange to think that we might revisit Ember again," Doon said. "I wonder what it looks like after all these years."

 _I wonder too_ , Lina thought with a wistful sadness she didn't understand.

* * *

Tim watched with apprehension as Torren grumbled and got back up on the cart for the umpteenth time. "Are you sure you're ready to travel like this?" he called.

"It's just this stupid old ox!" Torren hollered back. "I need time to show him who's boss!"

Even still, Tim didn't feel very comfortable watching the ox move the cart around with jerky movements. He had been hoping to ask Torren to take him to Aster when the time came for him to move, but as of now, things didn't look promising.

"What in the world is that boy up to now?" Tim whirled around to see his girlfriend standing behind him, hands on her hips and mouth twisted in amusement.

"Oh, didn't you hear? Torren is now officially a 'roamer-in-training,'" Tim said, leaning over to peck Lizzie's cheek.

"I can hear you!" Torren shouted from across the field.

Lizzie laughed and clung onto Tim's arm. "Good luck trying to look cool like that, 'roamer!'" she called.

Tim chuckled before he realized that now was the perfect time to break the news to Lizzie. "Hey, can you come with me for a moment? I want to talk about something."

She frowned. "That doesn't sound good. What's going on?"

Wincing internally, Tim just took Lizzie's hand and led her to the riverbank, where they usually went on their dates. The whole way, Lizzie kept asking questions with a worried voice. Not knowing how to ease her into the topic, he simply sat cross-legged across from her.

"Lizzie, there's something I've been meaning to tell you," he said slowly.

"Are you breaking up with me?" Lizzie cried. "Did something happen? Did I do something wrong?"

"No!" Tim took her hands and rubbed circles on the backs of them. "No, that's not it." He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, before letting the words flow out, as Lina told him to. "I've been exchanging letters with Vivi, the blacksmith from Aster. I asked her if she could teach me how to become a blacksmith, and she said yes. With her training me, I could become a blacksmith and open up my own forge in Sparks."

"What? Tim, that's wonderful!" Lizzie suddenly jumped on him and wrapped him in a hug so fierce that he nearly fell backwards. "I'm so happy for you! I know you've been looking for the right job _forever._ "

"But that's not all," Tim said softly. He pulled back from Lizzie, although he didn't look her in the eye. "Vivi said it will take two years before I'll be skilled enough to work on my own. And Aster is really far from here."

Lizzie was quiet for a long time. Tim didn't like that, because she was usually so talkative and spirited. "You're moving to Aster," she said finally.

Tim nodded. "I can't be her apprentice unless I go."

"Why did you wait until now to tell me?" Lizzie asked. "How long have you been planning this?" Her voice shook, but Tim wasn't sure if it was out of sadness, anger, or both.

"I didn't know how to tell you," Tim admitted. "I want to stay with you so badly. But...the only way I can become a blacksmith is if I move to Aster. I'm leaving with Torren in a couple of days."

He finally looked back at her, but Lizzie was now staring at the ground. Tim wished that she could say something, anything. He had never seen her so quiet before. "I...I just thought I should tell you," he added weakly. He knew she didn't deserve to hear it from him like this. Lizzie had been there for him when he was adjusting to life in Sparks. She was the one who helped him heal and learn to belly laugh again. She was the reason he wasn't afraid anymore. But now, he felt a looming dread overcome him.

"So what?" Lizzie said.

"Lizzie, it's not like I won't see you again," Tim said. Now his voice was shaking too. "I'll come visit whenever I can."

She shook her head. "It's not that," she said. "You've waited until you were practically in the middle of moving out to tell me about it. Don't I deserve to be part of the process too? I've supported you with _every_ job you tried since you moved here. I want to support you with this too, but not if you're going to hide things from me."

Tim opened his mouth to speak, but quickly shut it again. He knew he didn't have any good response.

Slowly, Lizzie stood up, never meeting his eyes. "You don't have to look for me when you leave," she said. "Goodbye, Tim. I hope you become a wonderful blacksmith."

With that, Lizzie walked away, and Tim felt as though his heart had become hollow.


	8. The Legend

The days only grew colder as the leaves fell rapidly and seemed to sweep into swirling vortexes across the Empty Lands. Without ever discussing it aloud, Lina and Doon continued to sleep together under the layered blankets each night. Not only was it warmer, but Doon felt more secure somehow. The comfort of having Lina in his arms every night made him feel a little less exposed and vulnerable in the endless plains. He was secretly glad now that it had gotten cold so early this year but wondered with some regret if they would stop once spring came.

They finally arrived at Reddington after riding for a week. Doon had never been this far, since he only ever followed Lina on more local routes. The stone and earth buildings were not unlike the ones in Stonefield. If anything, the roads were wider, enough so that Fleet could walk through without issue.

"So what do you think we should do?" Lina asked as she guided Fleet in a trot through the town. "Should we start asking people about Marshall?"

"Maybe we should ask the vendors at the vegetable market," Doon said. "Vendors always gossip, so they'd probably know better than anyone."

Lina nodded in agreement. "Let's get Fleet some food first. There's an old lady that shelters all the roamers that come through the town. We can leave Fleet there."

After another minute of walking, Lina guided Fleet down an alley and up to the house on the end of the street. Doon noticed a wooden structure that resembled a stable beside the house. He hopped off with her so she could unharness the saddle. Once she settled Fleet, she motioned at Doon to follow her to the door of the house.

When Lina knocked, a pleasantly plump old woman opened the door and smiled. "Lina, it's been a while!" she said. "Oh, you must be so tired, look at you!"

"Hi, Mrs. Winshaw," Lina said. "This is my friend Doon. It's his first time here in Reddington."

"Oh, my!" Mrs. Winshaw gave him a twinkly-eyed look as she looked him up and down. Doon felt somewhat nervous under her scrutiny. "What a strapping young man. It's so nice to meet you!"

"It's nice to meet you too," Doon mumbled. He ducked his head a little lower, subtly trying to hide behind his long dark bangs. "Sorry to intrude on you."

"Not at all!" she cried. "Any friend of Lina's is a friend of mine. Come in, come in! I just happen to have a pot of dandelion tea brewing."

"Actually Mrs. Winshaw, we're planning to head back into the town to buy some supplies," Lina said. "We'll be back later."

"Oh, alright you two, make sure you don't stay out too late!" Mrs. Winshaw waved at them as they walked off.

"She's...interesting," Doon said once he was sure the lady was out of earshot.

Lina giggled. "She loves having visitors. Her children moved out years ago, and she's been hosting roamers ever since. She seems to be a rather lonely woman, which is such a shame since she's so nice."

Doon was suddenly reminded of his father, who must've been living in his new house for a while now. He wondered if his father felt lonely, despite his insistence. Doon felt a familiar wave of shame wash over him as he looked at Lina.

"Hey Lina, remember when I asked you if I should move into your new house with you?" Doon asked. Lina nodded. "I was thinking...I change my mind. You don't need me there, right?"

Her face fell a little. "Oh...actually, I was thinking about it too, and..." She trailed off, which made Doon concerned.

"What? What's wrong?"

"I was actually going to tell you...yes, I do want you to move in," Lina said, her cheeks turning slightly pink.

"Really?" he asked. For some reason, his heartbeat seemed to grow louder in his ears.

"But I still have to ask Poppy!" Lina said quickly. "And only if your father's okay with it. I know he likes being independent, but he still has his hand, right?"

Doon sighed. "I don't really know what he thinks," he said. "Father insisted he'll be fine when I told him about it, but I keep wondering how he's doing. He's already moved into the new house at this point."

They remained silent for a while, until Lina looked up at Doon and smiled. "Never mind that right now," she said. "Let's worry about that when we get back to Sparks, okay?" He nodded in agreement.

* * *

Reddington's vegetable market was located in a small, ancient warehouse towards the center of town. It was far too small to contain all the vendors however, as tables and crates overflowing with produce crowded the room. Lina clutched onto Doon's arm as they slowly made their way through the swarm of people.

"Where do we even start?" Lina wondered aloud.

"You tell me. Do you know any of the vendors?" Doon asked.

"Not really," Lina said with a shrug. "There's one guy I tend to go to, though. He sells traveler's cakes." She pointed to a nearby vendor with a table stocked with dry goods.

"Let's start there then," Doon said. Lina nodded and followed him as he led the way to the stand.

"Good morning," Lina said to the man, who nodded in greeting. "I was wondering if you could tell me anything about a roamer named Marshall? I heard he comes from here."

"Sure he does," the vendor said. "In fact, his sister's a vendor here. She sells baskets. You should probably talk to her."

"Oh, that'd be great!" Lina said. "Where is she?"

The vendor pointed to a woman three stands away. "Her name's Lily," he added. "She's Marshall's older sister."

"Thank you!" Lina tugged Doon's arm, and they made their way over. The stand was stacked with beautifully woven baskets, though none were as flawless as the ones Marshall had, Doon noticed. The woman sitting behind the table was weaving a basket as they approached.

"Hello," Lina said. "Are you Lily?"

The woman looked up and smiled. "That's me," she said. "What can I do for you?"

"We heard that you're related to Marshall the roamer," Doon said. "We just want to ask about him."

"Oh dear." Lily's face grew solemn. "What kind of trouble has my brother gotten himself into now?"

Doon and Lina looked at each other uneasily. "Have you heard how he's going around selling things for only diamonds?" Doon asked.

"I did," Lily said. "His things are very peculiar though. When I ask him though, he tells me he got them from someplace called Cinder."

"Cinder?" Doon and Lina echoed.

"Yes. He heard about it from another roamer," Lily said. "It's a legend about a perfect city at the far ends of the Empty Plains, where no man has gone since the Disaster. Marshall's very fixated by it."

Doon felt Lina clutch his arm tighter. He immediately knew she was thinking about her imagined city, which she still drew frequently. In fact, whenever he's reading his textbook during their journey, Lina would be drawing. Although Doon thought she had accepted that imaginary city as a daydream, she knew this legend had just rekindled her hopes. For some reason, a dreadful feeling overcame him.


	9. Delusions of Grandeur

During the week that Lina and Doon had used to travel from Stonefield to Reddington, another pair had made their way to the nearby town of Aster. Tim was glad that he was good at reading maps, otherwise he was sure that Torren would've gotten lost somewhere. Despite Torren's eagerness to explore the ancient ruins they passed by, Tim had insisted on getting to Aster as fast as possible. He wanted to get his mind on work as soon as possible. He hated how traveling gave him all the time in the world to let his thoughts wander.

Torren stopped his wagon in front of the building marked with an iron sign. The image of a fire was carved out in the center. Once Tim hopped off the wagon with his things, Torren immediately picked up his reins again.

"Well, I'll be off, then," Torren said. "I've got places to explore!"

"Aren't you going straight back home?" Tim asked.

"Of course not," Torren said. "There aren't really any ruins around here, but I think I saw a couple in the direction you said Reddington was. I'll probably start there, and then go where the wind takes me."

"You don't need the wind to travel," Tim pointed out.

"I know that!" Torren snapped. "I just meant I'm going to really start roaming!"

"But what about Dr. Hester?" Tim asked. "You told her you'd take me here and then come straight back."

"She can't stop me from taking a few detours," Torren said with a wicked grin.

Tim shook his head, but he knew that he couldn't stop Torren either. He just hoped that Torren would be alright. "By the way, can you deliver a message to Lizzie for me?" he asked.

"What? Like a letter?"

"Yeah." Tim pulled out a piece of paper that he had toiled over every time they stopped for the night. "Just hand it to her when you get the chance?"

Torren shrugged as he took it. "Whatever. Okay, be seeing you. Have fun."

"I'll try," Tim said as Torren snapped the reins. The ox was still somewhat stubborn and Torren still struggled to maintain control, but at least the ox was listening now. Tim vaguely wondered how much worse the journey would've been if Torren hadn't already known how to drive oxen thanks to his brother Caspar.

Involuntarily, Tim reached for his pocket, where he had stuffed countless other drafts for his letter to Lizzie. He hadn't been able to find her before he left Sparks, but he had so much he wanted to tell her. Tim sighed and scrubbed at his face. He wasn't sure if they had broken up or if they were still technically together, but he was determined to at least bring closure, both for Lizzie and himself. He owed that much to her, for everything that she did for him.

Attempting to turn away his lingering thoughts, he turned to the wooden door of blacksmith's.

* * *

When Lina and Doon returned to Mrs. Winshaw's house for the night, Lina couldn't sit still. She paced excitedly in their shared room, her drawings sprawled out on the bed she claimed. Doon was sitting on his, watching her with an unreadable expression. "A perfect city where no man has gone since the Disaster!" she cried. "Doon, doesn't that sound like the city in my drawings?"

He frowned at her. "But we don't know where Marshall heard that from," he said. "And we've been told by multiple people not to trust him. Edward even said that he's known to be superstitious."

"But where else could he have gotten things that are in such perfect condition?" Lina said. "What if Cinder is really out there, and Marshall found it and kept it to himself?"

"Lina, he even had _Baby Drink_ ," Doon said. "We know that only existed in Ember. The labels on all the canned food were also the same as the ones from Ember."

"But what if the Builders made Cinder too?" Lina cried. Her thoughts went wild with the possibilities. What if Marshall had a truly endless supply of goods? What if the Builders survived the Disaster and made an even better city than Ember? What if she had been dreaming about Cinder all along, and it was up to her to lead the former people of Ember to it?

Yet when Lina looked at Doon, she immediately knew that he wasn't buying it. "Do you really believe what that jerk says?" he said. "It's farmore likely that he just found something we didn't know about back in Ember and made up a story to go with it."

Lina didn't think that was true. She didn't _want_ to think it was true. As she and Doon stared at each other, terrible feelings bubbled up in her stomach. "I believe there's something important out there that we've been missing," she said. "And I intend on going out and finding it."

"Well, I don't." Doon looked irritated at this point, his dark eyes piercing her. "I'm not going to go chase a tall tale from a man like that."

Lina wanted to grab Doon by the shoulders and shake him, as though she could wake up his senses. But she knew that would be pointless, and that she couldn't force her ideas into his head. "Then...I guess I'm going to find Cinder myself," Lina said weakly.

"I guess you are." Doon lay down and turned his back to her. He wasn't going to talk anymore.

Lina swept her drawings aside and lay down on her own bed. She felt tears burn in her eyes. Bitterly, she hoped that Doon also felt as horrible as she did.


	10. Abandonment

**A/N** **:** Sorry for the wait! Grad school applications have been kicking my ass, and I'm starting to lose a little steam on the story. I do have a good deal written out ahead of time, but I'm in a rut in terms of the ending. Although, I do appreciate all of you who have been along for the ride so far =) I write this story not to get views, but out of my own love for the characters and their world.

* * *

Doon hardly slept that night. He didn't remember the last time he had such a bad fight with Lina. Though he was used to arguments because of his temper, something about this one was especially painful. He didn't understand why his throat felt knotted as though a butterfly would come out.

With an inward cringe, Doon also realized that without Lina, he had no way of getting back to Sparks. Yet he didn't want to stay with her anymore. He'd rather wait his time out in Reddington until a passing roamer eventually agrees to let him hitch on.

Thoughts like this ran through Doon's head, making him tired but thwarting him from sleep. Behind the stubbornness and indignance, he feebly wished that he could just hug Lina and let his anger melt away. But he couldn't touch her, not when his words had been so searing and she had such ridiculous flights of fancy.

Frustrated, Doon finally sat up and combed his hand through his messy hair. The inklings of dawn crept through the window. He saw Lina's body curled up on the other bed, moving rhythmically with her breaths. Without a word, he slipped out of the room, out the front door, and made his way to the main streets of Reddington.

He immediately noticed a small crowd of people surrounding a wagon with an ox in the plaza, indicating that a roamer had just arrived. Then Doon squinted, as he tried to recall where he saw that rust-red truck before—

With a gasp, he realized that it was none other than Trogg's ox and truck. What was he doing out here? Doon thought Trogg had given up roaming a long time ago. He ran up and pushed his way through the crowd.

"...have anything yet, but I'll be back eventually with things to sell." Doon's eyes widened as he saw Torren holding the ox's reins, smiling wickedly. He was obviously pleased by the attention he had attracted. "It's nice meeting you all, though!"

Doon stepped forward as the other people dispersed. "Torren, what are you doing here?" he asked.

"Doon?" Torren's eyebrows flew up in surprised. "Huh, I guess I would've run into you guys sooner or later. Check it out, Trogg sold me his wagon!"

"I can see that," Doon said. "But what are you doing all the way out here? Did you become a roamer while I was gone?"

Torren nodded proudly. "I had to drop Tim off at Aster first, but now I'm free to start roaming!" he said. "I just stopped here for supplies, since Aster doesn't really have any ancient towns nearby."

"So you're going to leave again soon?" Doon asked.

"Probably in a bit, yeah. I don't plan on staying here too long."

That got Doon thinking. Torren's timing was too perfect, and I couldn't pass up the opportunity. "Can you take me straight back to Sparks?" he said.

"What? I literally just told you I'm about to actually start roaming," Torren said irately. "Besides, isn't Lina with you?"

"She's...not," Doon said carefully. "That's why I need to get home as fast as possible."

"Did something happen to her?" Torren said.

"Please, just take me to Sparks!" Doon said.

"Alright, jeez!" Torren looked at him strangely. "First Tim, now you. What am I, some kind of...they're called taxis, right?"

"Great, I'll be back in a few minutes." With that, Doon ran back to Mrs. Winshaw's house to grab his things. He regretted not finding the chance to thank Mrs. Winshaw for her hospitality—since she was most likely still asleep—but hoped that he had thanked her enough the previous night.

As Doon slung his knapsack over his shoulder, he took one last glance at Lina, still sleeping and oblivious to his plan. The sensible side of him crying out, he took one of her drawings and scrawled a short note as on the back. He then folding up the paper so that his writing was well-exposed and left it on the pillow by Lina's head. Doon wished that he could say something to her, but tried to shake off the thought. He had made up his mind, and she made up hers. He tried his best to not to look back as he walked hastily out of the room.

* * *

Lina,  
I've found a way to get back to Sparks alone. I plan to go to Ember next.  
Stay safe.  
-Doon

Lina stared blankly down at the note in her hand. She had been alarmed when she realized that Doon's bed was empty, but even more alarmed to discover his handwriting scrawled on the back of her drawing.

She had been abandoned. She knew that Doon was planning to go off on his own, but she didn't expect that he would so soon. Though unwanted tears burned in the corners of her eyes, Lina knew that she had to find something to make her argument worthwhile.

After accepting an apple for breakfast from Mrs. Winshaw—who was sad to discover that Doon had left without a goodbye—Lina made her way down to the vegetable market again. She wove around the crowds of people and searched for the basket stand. Sure enough, Lily was there, sending off a customer. Lina hurried over and waved to catch her attention.

"Oh, hello again!" Lily said.

"Hi Lily," Lina said breathlessly. "Listen, would you be able to tell me more about Marshall?"

"What would you like to know?" Lily asked.

"Well, for one thing," Lina said, "Do you know who told Marshall the legend about Cinder? Or where it came from?"

Lily frowned thoughtfully. "His friend is the one who told him. I've met him a couple of times when Marshall brings him home. You might've seen him around too, since he's a roamer."

Lina bounced on her toes impatiently. "Who is it?" she asked.

"I think his name is Caspar," Lily said.

Lina felt her blood run cold.


	11. Fears and Regrets

**A/N:** So, it's been about six months since I've last updated this fic. My absence was due to a number of factors, from a lack of inspiration to the busyness of my life since March. I'm glad to say though that my inspiration is back. I'll try my best to churn out as many chapters as possible before it can sizzle out again. My burst of inspiration was even enough for me to decide on how I want to end this fic, so let's see where this story takes us.

I have to say, I never get tired of the pacifist post-apocalyptic genre for too long, so I'm excited to be delving back into the world of Ember!

* * *

Lina spent the rest of the morning at Lily's house, who closed her stand early and invited her over for honeysuckle tea. "You didn't have to," Lina said as Lily handed her a clay mug.

"Don't worry about it," Lily said with a pleasant smile. "I know you must be hurting right now. Besides, today was originally my day off, so no harm done."

Lina wondered if it was such a good idea after all to tell Lily what happened with Doon. That had been the reason she closed her stand early in the first place. Now that she had told someone about the argument, Lina felt somewhat ashamed about it.

"So what other questions did you have about Marshall?" Lily asked.

"I was wondering if you could tell me more about what he was like when he was younger, or how he became a roamer," Lina said.

Lily nodded solemnly. "He was always a big dreamer," she said. "When Marshall was little, he loved hearing and telling stories. I suppose he was quite naïve though, since it used to get him into a lot of trouble. Once during the winter, he tried to jump and spin on the ice of the creek, because he heard people used to do it before the Disaster. He fell through and nearly froze to death. It's a miracle that he survived."

"That's terrible!" Lina gasped.

"Because he would do things like this, my brother would get bullied terribly by the other children," Lily said. "He didn't even have much time to play as a child. Our father died young and our mother was always so sickly. I'm a good deal older than Marshall, so I raised him for most of his life."

"I can relate to that," Lina said softly. "I have a little sister, Poppy. Our father died before she was born and our mother died giving birth to her. I've taken care of her since I was only a little girl myself."

"That is an admirable thing." Lily gave her a kind smile. "I don't believe I was very good at taking care of my brother, though. I was always so busy working, doing everything I could to support us. Marshall also tried to do work, but he was quite awful at it. I was often too tired to play with him or spend time with him apart from eating our meals. He was a very lonely child."

"He's had a rough life, hasn't he," Lina said.

"Yes, and it only got worse as he grew older," Lily said. "He became bitter and prideful. He had such large delusions of grandeur, and that's why he wanted to become a roamer. He dreamt of finding treasures and undiscovered lands so he could come home a hero."

"He just started being a roamer, hasn't he?" Lina asked. She recalled Doon mentioning that Marshall never been seen in Sparks before.

"Yes, he only set out for the first time almost half a year ago," Lily said. "I tried to talk him out of it, but of course he wouldn't listen. I believe it was his friend Caspar that first encouraged him."

"Do you know anything more about Caspar?" Lina asked.

Lily shook her head. "Only that he and Marshall became friends a few years back, and that he was the one who encouraged Marshall to become a roamer. I've heard that Caspar can also be quite the maverick, though. Do you know him? He's from Sparks, right?"

"Yes. I've lived with his aunt for several years," Lina said. "And I know firsthand that Caspar also has his own delusions at times."

Lily smiled sadly at her. "I wish he hadn't encouraged Marshall," she said. "Once he heard about Cinder, Marshall became obsessed with roaming."

"Do you know anything else about the legend?" Lina asked.

"I already told you everything I know, unfortunately," Lily said. "I just know that Caspar was the one who told Marshall about the legend and urged him to start roaming. I don't even know if they're roaming together or not."

With a sinking feeling in her stomach, Lina wondered if Doon was perhaps correct. Caspar was hardly a trustworthy man. Lina recalled his obsession with finding a treasure in a city many years ago, when his clues had been about Ember all along. She was glad that Maddy had left Caspar, but Marshall sounded much less prudent than that. Suddenly, Lina felt a burst of resolve. She needed to return to Sparks and find Doon. She needed to apologize to him.

"I have one more question," Lina said. "Marshall seems to only be interested in trading for diamonds. Would you know why that is?"

Lily paused to think. "Marshall has always had irrational fears," she said. "Fears of the end of the earth, of the sun never rising again, of being thrown to the wolves..." Lily shook her head and sighed. "He may be a roamer, but he is actually a very paranoid man. My guess would be that Marshall wants to feel like he'll always have electricity, like he'll always have power."

Having diamonds must give him a sense of security, Lina realized. With diamonds becoming more valuable by day, Marshall's hunger for them was only becoming more dangerously corrupt.

* * *

Traveling with Torren was an entirely different experience than traveling with Lina. For one thing, Doon noticed, Torren needed an unreasonable amount of help to navigate the way. Doon had taken upon himself to read the map and direct Torren on which way to go. Unfortunately, Doon had left his textbook in Fleet's saddlebag, so he didn't have much else to do anyway other than watch the landscape slowly churn by.

For another thing, Torren insisted on covering as much distance as possible. He didn't stop the ox until late at night, and prodded Doon awake before daylight even breaks the horizon. Doon guessed that Torren still unhappy about postponing his roaming again, so he didn't think much of it. In fact, he gave credit to Torren for agreeing at all. Though Doon still didn't necessarily like Torren, he admitted that he had grown up to be a lot better than when they first met. He didn't mind the lack of sleep anyway, since sleep still seemed to elude him, and he was unable to keep his thoughts away from Lina when his mind wandered.

On the third day of their trip, Doon sat down beside Torren and handed him a traveler's cake, an apple, and a small chunk of cornbread for his dinner. Torren accepted them wordlessly and immediately began to eat ravenously.

"Aren't you going to eat?" Torren asked with a mouthful of traveler's cake.

Doon shook his head. "Not hungry."

"So tell me again why you and Lina aren't talking?" Torren said.

"We just got into an argument," Doon said.

"Lover's spat?"

"What? No!" He glared at Torren, who didn't even look his way. "It's just...she's daydreaming about her imaginary city again."

"Oh, that. She hangs pictures of that all over my loft," Torren said. Doon wasn't surprised.

"It's because she heard a legend about some far-off perfect city," Doon said. "Now she seems intent on learning more about it."

"A legend about a perfect city? I've heard one before too, about a place called Cinder."

Doon whipped his head around to stare at Torren. "What? You've heard of it?"

"Yeah, Caspar told me about it," he said. "I thought it was dumb though."

"You think so too, huh?" Doon said.

"Well, yeah. Caspar said it's in a barren wasteland to the north that has hardly any traces of the ancient world left." Torren stuffed the last of his bread into his mouth before continuing. "Roamers usually just avoid that place because of that. There's nothing there."

Doon felt a dreadful worry overcome him. Would Lina find out and venture out to those wastelands by herself? He started to feel somewhat sick in the stomach. Perhaps he shouldn't have left her to her own devices in Reddington. "You said to the north?" Doon asked weakly.

"Uh huh," Torren said. "Caspar said it's considered the toughest region of the Empty Lands."

"Has he ever gone there?"

"To the north? Yeah, a few times. But never to the mountains. Roamers never go there."

"I thought that's where we collect ice," Doon said. In fact, he belatedly recalled, Torren's own parents had perished in the mountains.

"That's the _eastern_ mountains," Torren said. "The northern mountains are much, much worse than that. They say that there are never-ending storms and rocky cliffs that can crumble beneath your feet without warning. That's why no one goes there."

Doon realized he had made a mistake. He knew now that he never should have left Lina. At the very least, he should've just gone along with her. Not only was she chasing a baseless legend, but it was a rather dangerous one. All Doon could do now was hope that Lina wouldn't find out, and would eventually come home. With a deep pang of anxiety in his heart, he knew he wouldn't get any sleep that night.


	12. Chasing Wrong From Right

When Torren practically kicked Doon off his wagon and immediately set out again, Doon pondered what to do. He had no way of getting back to Reddington, and even if he did, Lina would probably be gone by the time he got there anyway. He could go check on his father and the moved-in house, but Doon didn't feel like going to Ember Square yet. He could find Kenny or Poppy, but he didn't really feel like talking to anyone. Eventually, he decided that he should visit the library and find a book to lose himself in. Perhaps then he could forget about how worried he was, if only for a while.

"Back already, I see?" Edward Pocket said as Doon entered.

Although he didn't feel like talking about his trip with Edward, Doon knew that he at least owed him what he knew. "Yeah. Our lead turned out to be a dead-end though," Doon said. "Marshall wouldn't talk, and then we found out he's more delusional than we thought."

Edward gave him a concerned look. "You seem troubled by something more."

Doon sighed. He trusted Edward, so he may as well take the weight off his mind. "Don't you think that legends are absurd? Unless you have something solid to go off of, they're usually just fairytales, aren't they?"

"Well, written fairytales are 'something solid to go off of,' aren't they?" Edward said. "It depends on what kind of evidence you mean."

"But if it's coming from an unreliable source, shouldn't it be ignored?" Doon said. "Apparently, Marshall said he got his goods from a place called Cinder, which he learned about from a legend."

Edward raised an eyebrow. "A legend, you say?"

"Yeah, but we've heard several people warn us about how sketchy he is," Doon said. "Not to mention, his sister told us he's obsessed with the legend. Don't you think that's strange?"

"Sometimes the strange things are the ones you need to pay the closest attention to," Edward said. "Is that not how you and Lina deciphered the Instructions all those years ago? Had you lacked faith in its importance, you would've never found the way out."

"Lina was the one who believed in its importance," Doon murmured. He knew that Lina had a sense for things that other people didn't pay attention to. "It was me who needed convincing."

"So why not wager your faith again?" Edward said.

Doon frowned. This wasn't the same case as with the Instructions. Lina had believed in Cinder through a tall tale perpetuated by a notoriously unreliable man. They had no Instructions or map to find it, not to mention the dangers that Torren had told him about. Doon and Lina had confronted many dangers before, but never something so obviously treacherous. "I'd say that wagering my faith would be pretty risky this time around," he said.

Edward gave him a mysterious grin. "Take some time to think about it a little more. You never know what else you might come to realize later on."

* * *

Lina practically bounced off Fleet mid-gallop when she got to Sparks. Though she took the time to properly unharness the saddle and settle him in the stable, she quickly broke into a sprint through Ember Square. It was nearly sundown, so she hoped Doon was where she thought he was. She ran until she arrived at the last courtyard by the river and ran up to the house that Doon had once pointed out to her as his future home, back when it was still just lumber and stone. Lina rapped the door with her knuckles and spent a long moment just listening to her own heavy breathing.

The door swung open and revealed Doon's father. "Lina?"

"Is Doon home?" she asked breathlessly.

Loris Harrow shook his head. "He stopped by once earlier today, but he hasn't moved in. He insisted on remaining in the Pioneer Hotel. I don't know where he is."

Lina's heart soared. He was still in Sparks like she hoped! "Do you have any idea where he could be?" Lina said.

"You would have a better idea than I would," Doon's father said with a smile.

With a quick thanks, Lina ran back through Ember Square and towards the Ark. Surely Doon would be in the library, where he liked to think and plan. If he was going to plan a return trip to Ember, that's where he'd be.

Lina burst into the library, startling poor Edward Pocket. Unfortunately, Edward also happened to be sticking his head deep into a bookshelf, so he bumped his head on a shelf with a loud _thump_.

"Oh, Edward!" Lina said. She helped him pull himself out of the bookshelf.

"You gave me quite a scare there, young lady," Edward said gruffly as he rubbed the crown of his head.

"I'm so sorry! I'm in a hurry. Have you seen Doon?" Lina said.

"He hasn't been here since high noon."

With a frown, a word of thanks, and another apology, Lina ran back out. She couldn't think of anywhere else to check but the attic of the Pioneer. Bursting into the lobby, she took long strides up the stairs, two at a time.

"Lina?"

His voice practically jolted through her. Lina paused mid-step on the stairwell. She was in between the second and third floor. Descending back to the second floor, Lina saw Doon staring at her from his open room.

"Doon!" She hurried over to him. The room was a mess, with articles of clothing and random bits of machinery scattered all over the floor. Doon was sitting in the middle of it all, but Lina couldn't tell what he had been doing.

"Lina!" He quickly stood up and wrapped his arms around her in a hug, startling her.

"What? What's wrong?" Lina asked, baffled.

"I thought you might've gone to the northern mountains," Doon said.

"Why would I do that?"

Doon pulled away to look her in the eye. "That's where the legend says Cinder is," he said. "I was worried you'd find out and try to go there by yourself."

"I was worried you might've gone to Ember by yourself," Lina said.

"I'm just glad you're safe," Doon said, drawing her into his arms again. "I'm sorry that I left you in Reddington. It was so thoughtless of me."

"No, I'm sorry that I didn't listen to you," Lina said. "After I talked to Lily some more, I realized that you may be right after all. I was just too wrapped up in my imaginary city to take you seriously. Will you forgive me?"

"As long as you'll forgive me." Doon looked at her and smiled sheepishly. "We're both just a couple of fools, aren't we?"

"Big ones," Lina agreed, clutching him even tighter.


End file.
